Kimiko Kao

Name: Kimiko Kao

Gender: Female

Age: 17

Grade: Senior

School: Cochise High School

Hobbies and Interests: Politics with a specific interest in Taiwan, Taiwanization, gymnastics, comic books, basketball, collecting basketball jerseys, Baguazhang.

Appearance: Kimiko is 5'3½" and weighs 110lbs with her weight evenly distributed over her lean body. Kimiko's skin tone is a fair brown while her face is circular with a thin nose and mouth as well as wide eyes and small ears. Kimiko originally had long black hair but she had it cut into an A-line bob and bleached it light blonde after moving to America. Normally Kimiko wears form-fitting t-shirts of either the long-sleeved or short sleeved variety or tank-tops, with either skinny jeans or skirts depending on the weather. She also wears a red Taoist charm necklace and two bracelets. One with regular beads and a small carved piece of wood with freedom written on in Taiwanese and another made of jade beads.

On the day of her abduction Kimiko was wearing a women’s Minnesota Timberwolves light blue road jersey with a white Under Amour long sleeve top underneath. She was also wearing a dark wash mini denim skirt as well as taupe knitted knee socks with brown suede flat ankle boots and her necklace and bracelets.

Biography: Kimiko was born in Taoyuan City, Taoyuan, Taiwan on the 31st of October 1998 to Jesse Kao and Jody Yeh. Unfortunately while Kimiko was a healthy baby her initial refusal to feed led to an accident occurring when a nurse attempted to insert a feeding tube into her mouth. This accident caused permanent damage to her larynx and resulted in Kimiko losing her ability to speak. For the first few years her parents remained at their apartment in Taoyuan City, but after Kimiko's fourth birthday they realised they would have to move to Tainan City. This was so that she could learn Taiwanese Sign Language at the National Tainan School for the Deaf so she could communicate. In a show of solidarity her parents also learned TSL so they could communicate with their daughter without speaking.

The choice was made to move to Tainan City because it was both the closest city with a school that taught TSL and had the most Taoist temples of any city in Taiwan. This was important to Kimiko's parents since they are both practicing Taoists and wanted to be able to continue their religious practice. Growing up in a Taoist household made Kimiko's choice of religion easy but before she settled with Taoism she looked at a few different options such as Buddhism and Christianity to get a larger view of religious practice. Her families practice of Taoism meant frequent trips to the temple and the practice of Baguazhang with her mother, something they do every morning.

As Kimiko grew older she started to learn more about Taiwan’s history and culture. Her parents, being very pro-Taiwanese independence and keen supporters of both Taiwanization and the Pan-Green Coalition; specifically the Taiwan Solidarity Union took it upon themselves to ensure that she learned about her homeland as much as possible. This has led to Kimiko taking on and gaining very strong views about Taiwanese independence and human rights.

From the age of five Kimiko has been practicing gymnastics. This first started as an easy way for her parents to get her to meet other children and gain life skills as well as keep her physically healthy. As Kimiko grew up however she started to see it as more of way to express herself beyond what she was capable of with just facial expressions and sign language alone. Kimiko has now been practicing gymnastics for twelve years with the only major break being when she moved from Taiwan to America. Shortly after settling in however she quickly picked it back up.

Growing up in Taiwan Kimiko's other main sporting interest was going to be either baseball or basketball as both were national sports. Kimiko first tried taking part in a game of baseball and found it to be extremely boring. Soon after she decided basketball was much more exciting than the more static baseball and followed it more closely. As an additional hobby Kimiko collects the jerseys of NBA teams and will sometimes wear them around school or everyday life.

When Kimiko was thirteen her father was offered a job working for a subsidiary of Praxair located in Kingman, Arizona; with the pay being much better and the prospects of promotion much higher, he accepted. This led to Kimiko finding her family packing up to move to the USA. Due to the timing Kimiko arrived halfway through middle school and as such had to make all new friends. This turned out to be easier than Kimiko thought because she had learned English at school in Taiwan and she was seen as something of a novelty coming from Asia and being unable to talk. As soon as she arrived she was put into classes for American Sign Language so that she could communicate in her preferred form.

Shortly after arriving in America, Kimiko discovered comic books for the first time. She had seen manga in Taiwan but the lack of colour had turned her away from the medium, whereas comic books in America were full of colour and larger than life characters. Kimiko became interested in them after buying one out of curiosity and soon started regularly buying them. She was drawn to characters like X-23 and the X-Men in general because they were viewed as outsiders and Kimiko sometimes felt like an outsider when she first arrived in America. This interest has expanded to include The Runaways and an odd mixture of DC and Image including Secret Six, Batwoman and Birds of Prey from DC, and Saga, Chew and East of West from Image.

In contrast to her original feelings of being an outsider Kimiko has developed into a very outgoing person out of a desire to not let her disability control her life. She communicates using sign language, body language or notes out of a refusal to use electronic assistance. She is very friendly around most people but is very outspoken about her views on politics and doesn't tolerate bullying. Even though she has moved to America she is still extremely passionate about Taiwanese independence and human rights. She joined Amnesty International shortly after settling in to life in America. Some days however Kimiko can be very quiet, withdrawn and grumpy due to not wanting to have to deal with her disability or just wanting to be able to sit and sign with someone else and can get frustrated when people don't understand her.

At school Kimiko’s favourite classes are law, world history and languages. The reason for this is that law and world history have a large influence on politics which she is deeply interested in. Her love of languages comes from learning multiple languages as she grew up. Even though Kimiko puts extra effort into those subjects she still tries hard in her other classes as well. This is reflected in her GPA of 3.65 which Kimiko hopes to improve upon so that she can go to college to study international politics. She also hopes her knowledge of languages will make her more likely to be accepted into college.

Kimiko's relationship with her parents is very strong thanks to the support they give her in every aspect of her life. They regularly worship at home together or talk in TSL with Kimiko about her day. Kimiko and her father regularly go to basketball games together and she practices Baguazhang with her mother in the morning every day as a form of Taoist practice, something she enjoys mainly as a meditative exercise. Both her parents also travel with her to any meets she attends for gymnastics so they can support her. Kimiko's performance in these meets is of a good enough standard to see her place quite often, although the question of whether she wants to pursue gymnastics competitively at college and beyond has started to come up. This is an issue for Kimiko because while she does dream of representing Taiwan at the Olympics she is unsure of whether or not the impact on her studies will be too great.

Advantages: Kimiko is in very good physical shape due to her participation in gymnastics as well as her practice of Baguazhang. This would be to her advantage during the course of SOTF because she would have more stamina and be more effective in physical activities than her fellow classmates. Her outgoing nature and friendliness could also help her gain allies on the island. Thanks to her inability to speak Kimiko has learned how to be expressive through the use of facial expressions and body language. This has also given her an understanding of the body language of others as well which she could use to her advantage on the island.

Disadvantages: Kimiko is a mute and therefore communication for her will be very difficult if not impossible in specific cases which could hinder her in high tension situations or if she is trying to gain someone’s trust. She is also less likely to take aggressive action due to her religious beliefs. Despite this Kimiko would be likely to try and help someone in need which could lead to her putting herself in dangerous situations which she could have avoided.

Designated Number: Female student No. 015

---

Designated Weapon: Megaphone

Conclusion: I'm trying to put how perfect this is into words, but I just can't say anything. I guess that makes two of us. - Trent Camden

'The above biography is as written by Deamon. No edits or alterations to the author's original work have been made.'

Evaluations
Handled by: Deamon

Kills: Cristo Morales, Bradley Floyd, Caleb Diamond

Killed By: 

Collected Weapons: Megaphone (assigned weapon), glass shard (improvised weapon), 5-foot spear (from Cristo Morales, discarded, to Arthur Bernstein), Nodachi (BKA prize), Tantō (BKA prize)

Allies: Caleb Diamond

Enemies: Bradley Floyd, Isabel Ramirez

Mid-game Evaluation: Kimiko awoke in the vehicle depot, and carefully approached Sandra Dyer. She non-verbally communicated her desire to look about for supplies, and Sandra in turn elected to leave. Kimiko broke an observation window to improvise a weapon from glass shards, then departed.

She went to the nearby warehouse, where she was caught sneaking around by Cristo Morales and Abigail Floyd. They were trustworthy, and she felt safe, but she kept a hand on her weapon. She wasn't sure about their offer for an alliance, especially when she found Cristo's spear and supplies lying about unguarded. She decided the weapon was crucial and she needed to pilfer it, but Cristo caught her in the act. A brief scuffle over the weapon ensued, when Cristo grabbed at the spear Kimiko panicked and drove the glass shard into his chest before running off with the weapon.

Kimiko only rested in the nearby B dormitories, cleaning herself off with some of her water. She heard the confrontation between Darius Van Dyke and Samuel Howard and went to investigate carefully. This led into her running into Samuel, and though they were able to stand down with their respective weapons the conversation remained tense and went nowhere quickly. Kimiko thus disengaged. She slept outside, hidden in bushes outside the building.

In the morning she heard the announcements that confirmed her kill, and heard she'd won BKA. She elected to collect it, and stopped off in the nearby gym to gather her bearings. She encountered Coleen Reagan, Arthur Bernstein, Bryony Adams, Alba Reyes, and Bradley Floyd. Of the five only Bradley didn't seem disquieted by her presence, and she was nervous about how things would proceed. She struggled to control her own temper as he made comments directly aimed at her, at Cristo, and found it increasingly difficult as they tersely approached one another with weapons ready. She finally stabs him and flees, unable to take his comments any further.

Upon arriving at the helipad to claim her prize, Kimiko was displeased to find that her weapon was a Japanese nodachi and t antō, feeling as though the terrorists were deliberately mocking her heritage and political leanings with such a weapon. Regardless, she took the sword and ate some of the pizza that had been left as her food prize before moving on.

Kimiko kept to the slopes rather than heading towards the asylum, hoping that doing so would prevent any more encounters with people who might hold ill intent. However she was confronted by Alan Banks, who threatened her for her BKA weapon. She suspected a bluff, but showed her prize hoping it would serve as deterrent. Alan continued to be aggressive, it was only when Caleb Diamond warned her by yelling that she realized it was an ambush orchestrated by Alan and Kaitlyn Greene. Kaitlyn charged her and with the advance warning Kimiko narrowly tackled Kaitlyn away before fleeing.

She holed up in the hunting cabin the following day, carefully securing her perimeter. She was suspicious she was being followed, but was quick to allow the intruder in when it turned out to be Caleb. He was an old friend who spoke sign language, and she found herself getting comfortable in his presence in spite of herself as they conversed back and forth, and she even shared what was left of her BKA pizza. The two of them holed up in the hunting cabin for the rest of the day, with Caleb taking watch while Kimiko slept. Unbeknownst to her, Caleb was struggling with his personal feelings towards Kimiko and thoughts of his own impending death. He awoke her by trying to choke her, forcing Kimiko to cut his throat with the  t antō in self-defense. As he lay dying, Caleb tried to explain to Kimiko through sign language that he was trying to help her to win another BKA prize in order to improve her chances, before dying. Kimiko mourned his death, and even questioned her own desire to keep going, but determined to herself that she had to go on so his sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

She covered his body with a bed sheet and tried to get some rest, but found sleep impossible. Day 2 announcements came and went, and she eventually forced herself to leave the cabin, still mourning and uncertain. She came across a gathering of people outside the supply depot's storehouse that included Kiziah Saraki, Jennifer Wallace, Bart Cappotelli, and most importantly to Kimiko, Clarice Halwood, one of her close friends. She wanted to talk to Clarice, but stayed hidden until Clarice suddenly began to cry and embrace Kizi. Kimiko took the risk and revealed herself so she could make an effort to comfort Clarice. Her attempt almost immediately put all the others on the defensive, most of all Clarice, who actively stepped forward to call Kimiko out. Kimiko immediately regretted her decision, but tried to explain herself as best she could. Clarice did come around to extending a reluctant offering of peace, as Kizi offered a tissue to help clean the blood some. While going in for the tissue Kimiko pulled Clarice into a hug, but Clarice didn't meet the gesture physically and Kimiko realized there was no chance for her to find peace or safety here and sadly departed, wishing Clarice safety before she left.

Kimiko wandered until she reached the asylum, where she took a look around in the basement and found Lily Caldwell in the water treatment room, who informed her that Isabel Ramirez was hiding out deeper within. Kimiko armed herself and went to investigate, wondering if Isabel had similar reasoning for her kills to Kimiko herself. As soon as she entered the room Isabel was waiting in, however, Isabel attacked. Kimiko managed to fend off the worst of her attack and slashed her across the face with the  t antō when Isabel paused to gloat that she was going to kill Kimiko. She received slashes on her shoulder and leg, but escaped with her life and warned Lily away before fleeing.

She tended to her wounds in the asylum's staff lounge and slept fitfully, dreaming of Caleb. She was struck with regret and guilt when she heard that she had not won the BKA a second time, making Caleb's death for nothing. In anger, she destroyed the lounge's TV before sitting down and trying to come up with a plan. She was found by Vincenzo/a Gatti, who came seeking peace and offered a shoulder to cry on. Kimiko considered the secrets she was hugging close to her own chest, that she intended to win to honor Caleb's sacrifice and that she intended to kill at least once more as a result. Ultimately she decided to brush off Enzo's concern. They continued to talk and Enzo discussed how they'd so far suffered, Kimiko offered awkward condolences, then let it slip that she considered herself hellbound. Enzo tried to dispel that notion and Kimiko was grateful for the attempt, but unconvinced except for pursuing her destiny elsewhere and leaving Enzo out of it.

She hid in a corner of the asylum library, cautiously changing her bandages and eating when she came to. She took notes on who had killed using a gun, planning ahead to possibly steal one. Nancy Kyle was one of those noted, and Kimiko encountered her just moments later, collapsed from exhaustion.

Post-Game Evaluation: 

Memorable Quotes: As a result of being mute Kimiko never properly speaks.

" I'm sorry. " -- Mouthed at Caleb just before she slashes back at him to save herself.

" I just saw you crying and wanted to see you and maybe help. " -- How she explains showing herself to Clarice, which Kimiko herself admits sounds like a weak reasoning.

" I think I'm going to hell. " - To Enzo when they discuss their ordeal so far.

Other/Trivia

 * Kimiko was the recipient of the September '16 BKA for killing Cristo Morales.

Threads
Below is a list of threads containing Kimiko, in chronological order.

V6 Pregame:
 * Hypotenuse Murder Mystery Case
 * Cruising and Perusing
 * I Hate Mustard
 * Roots of Jade
 * Chilling

V6:
 * Exhausted
 * Prepare to Burn
 * Room of Relaxation
 * This Be The Verse
 * Bú-Tik
 * Robber Barons
 * The Lagniappe
 * Why We Fight
 * Violence Is Usually The Answer
 * Seediq Bale
 * 不安心

Your Thoughts
''Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Kimiko Kao. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!''
 * The true hero of version six as of "This Be The Verse". :P Theburnthandler (talk) 23:43, October 14, 2016 (UTC)